Hey everyone! I'm trying to upgrade the RAM in my Dell Inspiron 15 3530, which currently has an Intel Core i5-1335U CPU and 8GB of DDR4 RAM. I got a new 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance stick (model CMSX16GX4M1A3200C22) thinking I'd replace my current memory. Initially, I had plans for 32GB, but I found out later that the laptop's max memory is 16GB.
So, I removed the original RAM and inserted both new sticks, but all I got was a black screen when I tried to boot up. The keyboard lights up, but there's no display. I put the old RAM back in, and it booted up just fine. I even updated the firmware thinking it might help. After that, I tried the new sticks again, but the black screen persisted.
I tried every configuration I could think of—changing which sticks went where or using just one at a time—but I still faced the same issue. Eventually, I noticed an error code that pointed to "invalid memory," and when I switched sticks, I then got a "faulty memory" code.
I even reset the BIOS and cleared the CMOS with the stick giving the invalid code, but I'm still stuck. Both RAM sticks are the same and should work, according to everything I read. Any thoughts on what I might be missing?
1 Answer
It sounds like you might be dealing with Dell's compatibility quirks. From my experience, some Dell laptops only accept RAM that's specifically designed for them, which could be causing your issues. I recommend checking if the new RAM is certified for use in Dell laptops. Sometimes they use custom RAM to avoid compatibility with third-party sticks, unfortunately.
That's frustrating! I hope that's not the case since I might not be able to return one of the sticks. I think you're right though, this might be exactly what's happening.